MILFORD, PA — Last year hundreds of job seekers took part in the April Working Pike job fair and organizers are hoping for a repeat performance again this spring.

Mike Sullivan of the Pike Economic Development Agency and Cindy DeFebo of Pike Workforce Development announced the 2017 fair at the commissioners January 19 meeting.

The second Working Pike fair is scheduled to take place on Thursday, April 20, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Best Western Inn at Hunt’s Landing in Matamoras, which hosted the fair last year.

Last year, up to 600 people took advantage of 67 employers who were on hand. Sullivan said 65 persons either got or changed employment based on last year’s fair. Sullivan said participants have kept in touch. “I’ve just heard from one person who made contact with a potential employer in April and was hired in September. He’s now in Port Jervis as a direct result of the fair.”

“We’re still working on information from last year,” DeFebo said. She thanked the churches that helped publicize the event last year, noting that one issue was not simply employment, but employment closer to home that would eliminate long commutes that county residents make daily.

DeFebo and Sullivan both noted that the fair would miss the participation of Fr. Paul Mullen of St. Vincent dePaul’s Church, who is recovering from a stroke. Mullen led the multi-church effort for the fair last year.

Commissioners Chair Matt Osterberg said ecumenical effort by the churches was a matter of social justice for Pike’s working poor. Despite Mullen’s absence “They’re still volunteering and helping… This fair is also about partnerships,” he said.

Employers interested in participating should contact Sullivan at 570/296-7332, or DeFebo at 570/296-2909.

In other business, the commissioners agreed to hire Matthew Barr as a full-time watershed specialist for the Pike County Conservation District at a salary of $33,990; corrected the earlier appointment of Margaret Welker to that of an at-large member of Lake Wallenpaupack Watershed Management District; heard Pike Training Center Director Tim Knapp report that the center last year hosted 322 separate events with combined attendance of 8,211 persons; and agreed to advertise for bids for the CBG-funded lighting project at Milford’s Ann Street Park.